Queen Victoria ruled from 1837 until her death in 1901. She oversaw the growth of the British Empire and made important changes to the monarchy. The paintings come with a provenance letter in which Alexander Mountbatten, First Marquess of Carisbrooke and Queen Victoria's last living grandson, says that they are her work. Chris Kirkham, the associate director of Hansons London, said in a statement that the royal items were bought by the seller's grandfather many years ago. "When I found the paintings, I was surprised and happy at the same time," he said. "I was asked to put a price on a few things at a cottage in Surrey, but I had no idea how big or important the hidden antiques were."
After Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, died in 1945, things from the family's country estate on the Isle of Wight, Osborne House, were sold. "Over the course of his life, my grandfather gathered a lot of interesting things. He loved old things and things people had saved. "He was from the Isle of Wight, so it's not surprising that he bought things at a Carisbrooke sale," the seller said in a statement. A letterbox that Queen Victoria used will also be for sale. The consigner's grandfather bought it at the same time he bought the paintings. It should sell for between £4,000 ($4,900) and £6,000 ($7,400).
Queen Victoria's work is rarely sold at auction because there have only been 15 lots of it up for bid so far. The queen's auction record is held by an oil painting of a maid's bust that was sold at Christie's London in 2015. It sold for £30,000 ($45,038). If the two paintings are as good as they are said to be, they will be among the most expensive ones by her that have ever been sold at a public auction. "According to the Royal Collection Trust, her watercolors and drawings were often about life at home. Kirkham said, "These studies show that this is the main point."
Selena Mattei